Ankara/Damascus: A second earthquake struck Turkey less than 12 hours after the first one, which struck the Middle Eastern nation on Monday and left 1,400 people dead. According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), the second earthquake, which was 7.7 on the Richter scale, occurred in Elbistan, 80 miles to the north-northeast of Gaziantep, Turkey, where the first one had occurred.
The situation has become fatal in six countries Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and Palestine after the earthquake on Monday. People could not recover from the earthquake of 7.8 magnitudes on the Richter scale in the morning and again in the evening, the earthquake of 7.5 magnitudes created havoc. Due to this, more than one and a half thousand people died and thousands of people were injured. The Turkish government has declared a state of emergency in the country. Meanwhile, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has claimed the death toll to cross ten thousand.
According to media reports, the tremors were felt for more than a minute, centred in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, 90 kilometres from the Syrian border. According to the United States Geological Survey, 18 aftershocks were felt after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Their intensity was more than four. Out of these, the intensity of seven tremors was more than five. Strong tremors were felt again in the evening after the first tremors in Turkey at 4.17 am. This time the intensity was measured at 7.5 on the Richter scale. Its centre is 427 km from Ankara and 10 km from the ground.
Apart from Turkey and Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus and Palestine were also shaken by the tremors of the earthquake. Most of the devastation is being seen in Turkey and Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Twitter that search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched to the quake-hit areas. He expressed hope that this calamity would be overcome together at the earliest and with the least loss. He has announced the imposition of emergency in the country.
The earthquake was so terrible that every street was resounding with screams. So far, information about the death of more than six hundred people has come to the fore. The death toll in seven provinces of Turkey has crossed one thousand. Thousands of injured are being treated here. Right now a large number of people are expected to be buried under the debris. Similarly, 500 people have died in Syria. Thousands of people are injured here too. Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Shoylu said that the earthquake had a major impact on 10 cities of the country, Kahmanmarsh, Hatay, Gaziantep, Osmaniye, Adıyaman, Sanliurfa, Malatya, Adana, Diyarbakır and Kilis. Apart from these, the capital Ankara, Nurdagi, Diyarbakir were also affected.
The earthquake caused severe devastation in Syria’s capital Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Tartus. A large number of buildings in these cities have been razed to the ground. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said that 320 people have died in the earthquake in Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called an emergency meeting on the issue to review the situation.
According to the United States Geological Survey, 18 aftershocks were felt after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Their intensity was more than four. Out of these, the intensity of seven tremors was more than five. Due to this the loss has increased.
The epicenter of the earthquake was about 33 kilometers (20 mi) from Gaziantep and about 26 kilometers (16 mi) from the city of Nurdagi. It was centered at a depth of 18 kilometers (11 mi). The United States Geological Survey has said that the death toll in Turkey could reach ten thousand. They argue that an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude occurred in 1939, when 30,000 people died. At the same time, in 1999 there was an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude, when 845 people lost their lives.
